An Economic Upturn?

This sounds like a very lib-tarded fantasy at best:

• Chicago’s downtown district, the Loop, is poised to enjoy a busy fall going into the holiday season, as new retail businesses open, office vacancies stabilize, and midweek foot traffic increases, according to a Q2 report from the Chicago Loop Alliance (CLA). 

  Like many downtown commercial districts in the post-pandemic period, the Loop has been riddled with vacant storefronts and a lack of foot traffic. But now, the report says, investment in new construction, combined with refurbishment of existing properties, has reached $673 million. More than 20 new businesses opened in the Loop during Q2 (see the full list below), and more grand openings are set to follow in the coming weeks. These neighborhood additions range from crowd-pleasing chains to local businesses opening their first or second locations. Meanwhile, office vacancies, which have been increasing since 2020, have finally “leveled off,” the report asserts. 

Um...."leveled off" doesn't mean repopulated. It merely means Chicago may have hit bottom.

And just for shits-and-giggles, let's see what that partial list of new businesses looks like:

• Chains expanding in the Loop
• Amorino Gelato, 209 S. LaSalle
• Dos Toros, 1 N. Dearborn
• Kilwin’s, 60 E. Randolph
• Panda Express, 85 E. Wacker
• Seoul Spice, Willis Tower Lower Level
• Kanpai Hot Pot & BBQ, 174 N. Michigan
• Local businesses opening in the Loop
• Espiritu, 1 E. Wacker
• Genki, 174 N. Michigan Ave
• Prasino, 33 S Wabash 
• Velvet Taco, 174 N. Michigan
• The Jibarito Stop, 174 N. Wabash
• The Carlyle Club, 316 N. Clark

Of these twelve businesses, eleven are restaurants and one appears to be a fitness-type center.

According to the statistics, something like 18% of restaurants fail within the first year, 50% within five years. Those numbers skyrocketed during the Plandemic and the entire industry continues to limp along amid the burgeoning plywood forests of downtown Chicago. Over 80% of restaurant income comes from repeat customers, and without corporate occupancy rates jumping from record lows, there isn't a customer base to actually serve.

Conehead needs to expand the corporate presence downtown to trigger a boom of service industry businesses, not hope that eleven restaurants somehow fill the empty city coffers.

By the way - no JJ Fish and nail salons? We're disappointed.